ENGL390 JOURNAL - http://mbshea.squarespace.com/display/configuration/Basic?updated=true

Week 5: wrapping up rain garden+more mini lessons

I have a few items to talk about:

self inspection about cost-effectiveness of rain gardens (a way to close the evaluation paragraph)
- last mile problem
- wide uptake in society
adding two logos-of-numbers ideas from Davis and in the eval paragraph
formal citation is a two step process
- locate the citation at the sentence that carries the information
- end the memo with a bib cite (is courteous and "works" even if the reader never looks)
first person v third person
present tense and past tense strategically
modest scaling of this knowledge and offer to do more in closing

NEW!!!! FIXED THE LINK:Care to see what students asked about in earlier semester? Check out this google doc "Office Hours in the Sky" resource.

For now? Get on your peer collaboration in the Eli Review task de Tuesday evening.

Commas! What is an appositive? A bit of information you insert in between the subject and the verb. You need commas or other sorts of punctuation to set this off. This image of bunny paws can help you remember to do this with three options (we spoke about this with the direct sentence+embellished option).

Update on Wednesday, February 23, 2022 at 07:27AM by

Marybeth Shea

The only place in our short definitional memo that really needs as transition is moving into the evaluation paragraph. Our early paragraphs are united, cognitively, by the definition work.

First, let's focus on binding -- relies on counting (two) and pivoting -- for the illustration paragraph, which can be transitioned into the evaluation paragraph.

Ok: binding a paragraph.

In the illustrating paragraph, bind by counting. In this case, you have two sections, of abiotic and biotic components. Does order matter? Plants first? Layers first? What do you think? Also, what is a good pivot -- transition -- between the two sections? Try these "free" phrases for you to use that will help you pivot!

T(t)he engineered garden layers work with the carefully selected plants to stabilize the sponge action...

...plant roots help further anchor the soil layers...

...within the layers are microbes -- associated with both the soil and plant roots -- also helpful in bioretention. . . (abiotic and biotic connection! If you want to use this)...

Now, the evaluation paragraph: we will make two related claims in the paragraph: that rain garden/bioretention technology works (cite a Davis study for evidence) and that low impact development techniques cost less than traditional storm drain piping (support with your human inspection "evidence" discussed on Monday). I would order them this way. Transitions possible include (place either at end of para I or beginning of para E):

Therefore, rain garden design perform the remediation functions.

Do rain gardens really work at scale?

In theory, rain gardens work but what evidence is there?

If you order your memo with the classifying paragraph (aka kitchen sink paragraph), binding by two strategies (BLUF is new; process/order is also something you already do as human beings!). Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) means lead with the conclusion or main message. Then, let the detail in (often larger paragraph) the rest of your text chunk explain, elaborate, or persuade. Begin:

Rain gardens, a kind of bioretention strategy, are established as effective at pollution associated with run-off events.

Then, say:

Rain gardens were first devised in Maryland in the early 1990s. Larry Coffman, then an environmental engieer for Prince George's County, installed a rain garden in Somerset. He worked with the development and many county agencies to manage stormwater with a design-build modification to the landscape , rather that using storm drain infrastructure.

Can you see the process here? And, then narrative? You need to tell that story quickly!

Now to transition to Davis/evaluation paragraph: close with the idea that Mr. Coffman consulted with Davis to "prove" that biorention works. They also want to quantify the effectiveness of this low impact development technology.

Here is a checklist to work through before turning in. More on Monday. On Monday we will also talk more about referral link placement in the classifying and illustrating paragraphs, with new idea of bookending the knowledge.

Reference documents from earlier Squarespace posts. Using some of them today:

Now, let's think about sentences (all handouts are one-page MS Word docs):

Sentence Patterns

Buffy and Sentences

Pitch the Verb

And, on to paragraphs (MS Word docs):

Paragraph Definition: think Architectures

Paragraph Types

Update on Friday, February 25, 2022 at 08:02AM by

Marybeth Shea

Happy Friday to you all. We can meet by Google today as per usual on Friday.

Reading this post is another way to prep for the final version of the rain garden definition memo. Clarity on an option for those of you who want more peer collaboration about the memo, especially the last paragraph -- evaluation stasis step.

Check your ELMS calendar for a revised task this Friday evening. Now OPTIONAL. Many of you want this additional chance to give and receive feedback. Others are ready to prep for final version to be due Monday evening. Here is the link for Eli Review, which you can chose or not. As you wish.

via GIPHY

First, here is the updated checklist you can use as your keep revising your memo. I will open an Eli Review task for final submission on Monday. Recall that you may submit all during the week.

For Monday,, we will review and improve our practices for curating referral links and making sure which part of the paragraph the curated link refers too. We will also look at Aristotle's canons of rhetoric, which are five categories of action patterns we use in developing our communication events (speaking and writing).

To preview Monday's presentation of curated referral links (use at least one in the illustrating and classifying paragraphs), here is a sneak peek of sample sentences that can appear in these paragraphs.

The Low Impact Development Center website (ADD LINK), founded by rain garden inventor Larry Coffman, contains several design guides. . . . . . . . . . Here is one on plant selection (ADD LINK).

You can read more about how rain gardens were developed and why at a short article (ADD LINK). This piece described how Coffman and Larry Davis worked to develop rain garden and bioremediation best practices. See especially the short blue sidebar on page 10 of this web-posted piece.

Aristotle's canons? You have a feel for this as you already do these cognitive patterns to think and write!

Invention is the process of coming up -- inventing!-- with what you want to say to inform or persuade your audience;
Arrangement is the process/pattern of structuring your content in good order for your reader's experience of cognitive flow. You use ideas from the invention stage into this step.
Style is the process of choosing language elements to achieve level or formality, warmth/coolness and other overall document effects.
Memory: modern rhetors think of this as how to imagine your audience effectively and accurately.
Delivery: in this case we are working in the memo format and context is the delivery occasion.

Posted on Monday, February 21, 2022 at 07:48AM by

Marybeth Shea |

Post a Comment

Week 4: rain garden continues! Paragraphs and counting out

Resources for giving/receiving feedback. Check out this Padlet set of readings.

We are going back to week 3 and retrieve some sentence stuff and paragraph stuff. I want you to see the counting out technique at the paragraph level and the document level. The magic number for the rain garden memo is two:

Two related environmental problems: storm water events and pollution carried in that water.
Rain gardens have form and function that address these two problems (form and function -- two!)
Rain garden (RG) form 1 = above ground biotic plant material. RG form 2=below ground = layers of soil and media, in a depression.
Two bits of evidence that reflect this pattern of two is that we can use the logos of numbers from Alan Davis/Low Impact Development Center about
1. volume of water remediated?
2. percentage/quantifier of sample pollution type remediated.

And, on Wednesday, we will talk about the classifying paragraph, which can be a "kitchen sink" paragraph abou some of the history+Maryland specific detail you want to include for the ACP.

Image by Felix Hu from Pixabay

Update on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 at 05:35PM by

Marybeth Shea

NEW item: dummy text using lorum ipsum (fake Latin to manage document before formatting/printing/publishing) to show you relative size of paragraphs PLUS cognitive wedge shape

For Wednesday! Yet posted on Tuesday night for those wanting to read ahead.

Think about counting out. Jennifer Lopez!

Science references popular culture. Including JLo!COUNTING OUT in the memo (writing strategy that is cognitively helpful to readers)

(pre) Definition paragraph: Rain gardens address two related environmental problems:. . .

Classifying paragraph (kitchen sink para): These two problems come from storm water events primarily in urban and suburban environments. Related logos-of-numbers ideas:

When? early 1990s (add the where, who, too of journalism)

Scale of technology spread? Everywhere, in NA and Europe but also other countries; quantify! Hundred of thousands.

Illustrating paragraph: Rain garden design is two-fold, where form and function support the remediation of two environmental problems. Subtle counting out/compare+contrast:

biotic and abiotic (count 2)
above ground and below ground (count 2)
physical infiltration/sponge/absorb and metabolism of plants (count 2) to remediate three classes of pollutants:

hydrocarbons (oil, gasoline, and other carbon-based pollutants)
heavy metals (lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium)
nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus

In class we will talk about categories (part of counting, really, as well as dividing) being more important than absolute details. See the thee pollutant classes above. Also, we can describe plants in terms of categories, like native, drought/inundation adapted, etc.

Evaluation paragraph: Alan Davis work. Use APA citation in text and as end note (only para needing formal citation). Really.

-----

All the other paragraphs are common knowledge. You CAN use sentence style citation and even referral links. TO BE DISCUSSED in class. Is related to meta discourse of signal phrases. Also called natural language citation and sentence-style citation.

Sentence-style citation

According to the US EPA, bioretention.....

Rain gardens are an effective, low-cost solution to the last-mile stormwater run off problem, according to Kermit the Frog who lives and maintains a rain garden somewhere over the rainbow.

Helpful diagrams of the rain garden structure are available at these two short PDF documents from the Maryland Department of the Environment:

Signal phrases go well with referral links, which are also a hypertext citation!

Another source from R in 10AM section. Hint: we are going to need at least two quantifiers from Davis. Also, look at what the Low Impact Development Center says, too.

University of Maryland, College Park from Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO)

Update on Friday, February 18, 2022 at 08:34AM by

Marybeth Shea

Hi. Do not forget your Eli Review post due tonight. On Saturday, about noon, I will open up the review portion.

Today, you can chat with me between 9-950, 10-10:50, and 11-11:50. Here is the Google Meet link (hey, do you like this curated link? Could this be better?).

Now, a long lesson on the Oxford comma! Bottom line? USE IT.

To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.

To my parents, J.K. Rowling and God.

To my parents, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart.

In a newspaper account of a documentary about Merle Haggard:

Among those interviewed were his two ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson and Robert Duvall.

These two preceding examples are from English professor Theresa Hayden. Here is another doosie that cries out for a serial or Oxford comma.

The Times once published an unintentionally humorous description of a Peter Ustinov documentary, noting that

"highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector."

Now, to be clear, the serial comma does not always solve ambiguity problems, consider all these combinations and punctuation variations:

They went to Oregon with Betty, a maid and a cook –

They went to Oregon with Betty, who was a maid and a cook. (One person)
They went to Oregon with Betty, both a maid and a cook. (One person)
They went to Oregon with Betty, a maid and cook. (One person)
They went to Oregon with Betty (a maid) and a cook. (Two people)
They went to Oregon with Betty, a maid, and with a cook. (Two people)
They went to Oregon with Betty – a maid – and a cook. (Two people)
They went to Oregon with the maid Betty and a cook. (Two people)
They went to Oregon with a cook and Betty, a maid. (Two people)
They went to Oregon with Betty as well as a maid and a cook. (Three people)
They went to Oregon with Betty and a maid and a cook. (Three people)
They went to Oregon with Betty, one maid and a cook. (Three people)
They went to Oregon with a maid, a cook, and Betty. (Three people)

We can also look at the grocery list problem:

buying bread, jam, coffee, cream, juice, eggs, and bacon. VS

eating toast and jam, coffee and cream, juice, and bacon and eggs

Finally, we have a theme song to remember this punctuation convention. Warning: F-bomb several times.

And, this from S.C.

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/fo5d9i/the-colbert-report-vampire-weekend

What do you think of this sloppy curation of a link?

Posted on Monday, February 14, 2022 at 07:49AM by

Marybeth Shea |

Post a Comment

WEEK 3: reviewing sentences+paragraphs->thinking rain gardens

FACE TO FACE TODAY in TAWES 0224.

via GIPHY

CRAFT LESSON TODAY: Models of topic sentences that helps you also see the arrangement pattern from stasis theory. Note: topic sentences can be implied in tightly coherent prose (for now, leave this subtle technique to the professionals!)

Let's look at examples of topic sentences useful in the rain garden memo:

Rain gardens, or bioretention ponds, are a kind of low impact development. Low impact development....

Rain gardens have two components: layers of percolation material and carefully chosen plants.

Rain gardens protect the local environment by absorbing water run-off from impervious surfaces and by sequestering pollutants.

Dr. Allen Davis studies rain garden effectiveness. Davis, a civil engineering professor, has been studying bioretention for more than twenty years.

Let's also think about sentences generally. General advice to you? Write shorter sentences than those you are familiar with in literature and many of your textbooks.

Now, let's think about sentences (all handhouts are one-page MS Word docs):

Sentence Patterns

Buffy and Sentences

Pitch the Verb

And, on to paragraphs (MS Word docs):

Paragraph Definition: think Architectures

Paragraph Types

MEMOS

Four Point Action Closing

Now, we need to think about our

Audience/Context/Purpose

scenario for this written assignment. Below is Jane Austen Powers, our boss. Our small but nimble science consulting firm is called Leaf it to Us. She asked for the memo at the end of our last staff meeting. (We are pretending, here.)

Memos also have a standard format: See the image to the right, above earlier. Also, look at the email heading in your software. This electronic message genre is based on the memo format from hard copy paper days.

Bonus question: what is the difference, traditionally, between a memo and a letter.

Stasis theory and the rain garden memo

The structure and type of paragraphs you will write follow Aristotle's stasis theory (very much a system of analysis and action, scientific method steps):

Stasis 2a: Simple "preview" Definition (what is a rain garden, briefly, by two functions)
Stasis 2b: Definition strategy of Classification (what type of technology is this? Hint: low impact development and storm water management)
Stasis 2c: Elaborate the definition by Description (Hint: let the paragraph be Illustrative; give detail on the layers of soil and the type of plants)
- include two examples; consider campus
- QUESTION! Where is stasis 3? TBD: hint--practical causality is disperse throughout+in question
Stasis 4: Evaluation (is this technology good or ineffective (we are assessing quality)? Use Dr. Davis' research as you do not have disciplinary authority to evaluate based on your expertise)

ETHOS: I would think you need about one source per these paras: classifying, illustrating, evaluating. Use (author, date) citation from APA guidelines. Include a works cited page also.

Bonus question: what is the difference, traditionally, between a memo and a letter?

Topic Sentences: A list of qualities for you to strive for

Usually a short direct sentence (think announcement)
Signals the topic in the paragraph (think preview)
Hooks the reader by 1) raising a question or 2) provoking thought
Can be placed anywhere, but early on in the paragraph is the best default strategy for most professional documents; in other words, at the beginning of the paragraph
Contains an element of transition from the previous paragraph

Sources? Guidance below but we will discuss extensively during the month of this memo assignment.

To start see the Low Impact Development Center,
You can also look for the Bioretention Manual from the Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources. Warning: HUGE PDF.
We will need something from Allen Davis, for the evaluating paragraph. Hint: we are NOT using a peer reviewed research article but a summary available on line. Part of what we are practicing is critical analysis of web-based resources. We need to be:
1. simple
2. accessable (no paywall)
3. relatively recent

YOU DO NOT NEED TO FIND OTHER SOURCES. You can read the Wikipedia entry as background BUT do not cite this source. Using Wikipedia to dive into the ocean of knowledge is a really good skill.

Update on Friday, February 11, 2022 at 08:34AM by

Marybeth Shea

Reposting this, which appears within your Eli Review prompt. We wil talk about this on Monday, to gauge the relative size of paragraphs. Do you see the cognitive wedge here?

This new guidance placed here will also help you anticipate the size of paragraphs we will work with next week. You can think about putting details in that fit the size of these paragraphs (cognitive wedge!).

- Dummy text (2 pg. of lorum ipsum in a goggle doc) + cognitive wedge (my metaphor! in 1 page visual explainer)

See you in digital office hours today, if you like: same GoogleMeet code (9-12).

Do not forget your Eli Review task, due tonight by 11:45. You will need to sign up/pay for Eli Review. My class access code for Eli Review is gamins240wrier

How about some Terp ethos+pathos from the art song traditions. This is a clip of renowned soprano and music professor Carmen Balthrop who died last year. So many wonderful people and practioners in TerpLand. Including the future and now YOU.

Posted on Monday, February 7, 2022 at 07:12AM by

Marybeth Shea |

Post a Comment

Week two: this is our text/primary reading space in 9, 10, 11 science writing spring 2021

Google Meet link for M, W, F. Recall that this link is good all semester.

Good morning: this is our class journal space. Here are the lessons/links that we will discuss on Monday, February 7, and work with on Wednesday and Friday. Do not forget our ongoing exploration of practical guidance on our COVID response choices:

Workspaces on Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, masks, and testing

Jamboard (Links to an external site.) for brainstorming in class +
- Google doc on CR box instructions (Links to an external site.)
- Google doc on mask definition/selection (Links to an external site.)
- Google doc on testing selection+next steps (Links to an external site.)

Today, Monday, we will peek into these links. Generally, I ask that look at links with me in class and then follow up to skim or re-inforce the key writing concept presented. Recall that you are not being tested on this material. Rather, you are learning to think and writing for specific:

Audience/Contexts/Purposes aka the ACP triangle; and
Logos/Pathos/Ethos elements (often combined) that you see in the ACP triangle; these types of qualities were identified as Aristotle's three modes of persuasion, aka the LPE triangle.

Learning a bit of writing composition pedagogy helpers

Cognitive wedge (one-page Google doc) praxis (TBD Monday and all week)
Stasis theory overview (2 Google slides)

Looking ahead? On Friday, we will prep for the invention phase of memo 1: understanding what rain gardens are and preparing to define and describe. If you want, read ahead for ten minutes a day or so. You can look at the Wikipedia entries or do a google search (think critically about what you find).

TL:DNR? Try this:

squarespace for weekly, MWF guidance and links to learning content (Monday WEEKLY with W,F updates)
Night before tasks are due in Eli Review in (SAMPLE OHitS/AMA doc, bonus is that rain garden content)
ELMS calendar to be linked to specific tasks later this week
ELI Review (we will register for this in after Week 2).

What we do in these spaces:

Squarespace, where I present short, targeted lessons on writing with links short materials
OHitS/AMA Google Docs, where you interact with me, together, before assignments are due
Eli Review, where you interact with each other to write, review, revise --> toward excellent writing (and learning) for three major assignments: Memo 1, Memo 2, Article Review.

Promise to you: I will work hard to curate links to what you need for the day, the week, and the month.

Recall the labor grading approach: I will grade you on three papers, each accompanied by four labor grades for your reading, drafting, commenting, revising, and generally being part of our learning community.

Arrive alive (in best health possible), together! Today's In the Bubble podcast, with Bob Wachter, MD and epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina is really good. Information is part of our toolkit.

Care to peek into how I think about teaching? Skim Jess Stommel's 37-slide presentation on designing classes for care and community

Update on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 08:25AM by

Marybeth Shea

Demonstrating the follow-up post, nested underneath the weekly post. Here is a wonderful Twitter thread about OUR C-R box work, which begins January 27. Note: you can see Twitter threads from referral links without having a Twitter account. (let's chat curation of links for a moment).

Knitting up from earlier discussions of the overlay quality of pathos (feeling intensity) and ethos (group trust, credibility, and even ethical frames), here are two brief examples we will chat about briefly:

Pathos and ethos of lost opportunity
- Len Bias, Northwestern Wildcat and UMCP Terp
- Eva Cassidy, local musician
- Robert MacArthur, ecologist and designer with E.O. Wilson of island biogeography theory

Definitions of note (chaining back to stasis theory to consider that stasis definitional frames are not simply word definitions. We go beyond the dictionary approach.

basketball number 34 and number 30 (See Len Bias story)
island biogeography theory (definitional work from step 2 of stasis theory) AND experimental confirmation by Daniel Simberlost and E.O. Wilson
Two new ones: stacked immunity and mixed immunity

Video definitions!

Update on Friday, February 4, 2022 at 08:49AM by

Marybeth Shea

If you would like to prep for the memo content, read about rain gardens and bioretention. What is this environmental intervention? Does it work? How old is this technology? And, guess what: Prince George's County and the University of Maryland play key roles in invention of rain gardens and in testing for efficacy.

via GIPHY

Posted on Sunday, January 30, 2022 at 03:07PM by

Marybeth Shea |

Post a Comment

Last tasks

Google Meet link

Today is likely the last class for us, by using the above link. I will host office hours between now and the end, though. To be discussed in class.

UPDATED: 9-11 I will host the link. Show up for office hours, if you like. Wed. Fri. Next Monday, too.

Readying my grading paper station. You can turn in your paper at any time. Check the ELMS calendar for a link to the Eli Review task. No more peer editing. Just turn in for my enjoyment.

For those who asked, here is the Google slide set about personal statements. Keep your GroupMe account live for an alert about tutorial sessions about this document.